I have had a fantastic week at ITV Meridian. The whole team were very friendly and helpful and I have learnt a lot from it. I have had a great overview of the range of roles a production specialist does. After my general introduction on Monday I started on Tuesday morning doing media traffic hub operations which involved ingesting tapes and playing them out and learning how to book out lines for the trucks. I then went on to see the lunch time bulletin PA and just how much preparation work in needed and logging before the programme, not just during! After lunch I saw how the weather forecast is recorded, edited and played out for the programme. For the evening programme I watched the Gallery Camera Operator controlling the camera set up and the lighting for various angles. On the Wednesday morning I had a go at recording the weather and editing it using Avid for the morning and lunchtime weather. It was very interesting to finally have a go with Avid – I found it very user friendly and picked a few of the short cuts quite quickly. During the lunchtime bulletin I watched the sound mixer. At first this seems like a very daunting role however after watching for a time I could see the logic behind all the controls and began to look forward to giving it a go! In the afternoon I was back on weathers and managed to record and cut the programme and evening weathers independently. For the evening programme I watched the autocue which was interesting to see how they time and follow a script also. The next day I had an overview of directing, the programmes involved, the key banks, the talk back systems and everything else! I then sat in with one of the editors and saw how he cuts together the stories for the programme or tidies up journalists cuts ready for viewing. This was a really interesting experience seeing how he picked up on different elements for correcting that he had gained from experience. I later watched sound for the programme which required a lot more concentration than the lunch bulletin! I spent my last learning how to do the archiving which appeared to be a relaxed role after seeing all the live production. Though there is a lot to remember I felt it quite an achievable role. For the lunchtime bulletin I had a go at gallery camera operation which was quite a buzz as it was live. There were not too many set ups to worry about and no physical camera moves but I did have to change lighting too. It was a great experience and look forward to doing a programme! In the afternoon I was back on weathers to try something a bit new as the weatherman was on location. So instead of the simple recording it was a case of recording him into the system and on to the graphics afterwards. For the evening programme I ped/camera operated on the studio floor which was great to get a different perspective on the show. Overall I had a great introductory week, I have learnt a great deal, meet my Fred Dineage who I used to watch on ‘How’ and can’t wait for the next shift!
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This week I filmed two pub chats with Equine Productions about the upcoming Guineas races. It was a very relaxed shoot and the participating trainers were very natural on camera. It was great to once again work with Dave from my Olympic team. I then went on to edit them as two short pieces called ‘Round the Table’ – Below is the result! I have just arrived back from an amazing week in Mexico. From the beauty and wonder of the Mayan Temples in Chichen Itza to the incredible Turtle Bay and the Cenotes that gave some welcome relief from the heat. I learnt a lot and was fascinated by the Ancient Mayans and their advancement in knowledge and architecture. I was also very excited to try out my GoPro dive housing in such beautiful clear water surrounded by tropical fish, the highlight being the turtles and were lucky enough to see two kinds. I will be posting up an edit of this shortly and hopefully some cenote footage if it is not too dark! For now here is a picture of one of the turtles.
For the past few months I have been in charge of a project for Bournemouth University about BU Staff. The project was requested by Staff Development Manager Colleen Harding and as a result I am making a series of short interviews for the website with a wide range of Bournemouth University's staff to show what working at BU is like for prospective employees. After doing all the preproduction of putting together the schedule, risk assessment, booking locations and kit I was ready to film so for the past couple of weeks I have been filming two camera set up interviews with the help of final year Global Media student Alex Naqvi and Bryony Reed around various campus locations. Once again we had a great view of Bournemouth from the Executive Business centre which I couldn't help add to the production photos. I am now nearing the end of editing process and the interviews are looking really good. More to follow once the project is complete!
I recently was given my Grandad's beautiful Pentax camera and lens collection (including a 28mm, 50mm, 70-200mm macro... and a few extras!). I was very excited and look forward to trying out my skills with the old school film camera. However in the mean time I did the next best thing and bought myself a PK-EOS adapter so I could try out the lenses on my Canon DSLR. I took myself out to the country; Wimborne St. Giles, Knowlton Church and a little bridge over the Stour. I was extremely impressed by the results. The lenses are very clear creating a lovely image. Below are a few of the snaps I got. After the great success the Time Lapse Graffiti NSS Video I made for Bournemouth University (now on over 90,000 views!... A great achievement for a student survey) I was asked back by Corporate Communications Officer Toby Horner to make a video for the Student's Union to further promote the National Student Survey. The SU have jumped on board with all the recent Harlem Shake videos and I had the experience of filming and editing one of the strangest things that has come up in my career so far! The reaction has been fantastic as there is such a massive contrast of love/hate views on the Harlem Shake so it certainly helps to promote the NSS. For the past couple of days I have been working at Goldsmith's University for Talent TV South with Fran Mattinson who I met on the set of Monster Truck Mayhem. We have been filming the workshops and interviews to create summary videos and to promote creative skillset. We broke into three crews to film the workshops and I assisted Camera Operator Don from Sweet Pictures with Lucy Purnell as director. The workshops were very interesting from my point of view as Bournemouth University are involved in creative skillset and it is something I was aware of while at University and was seeing it from a different perspective. We also got to see an interesting talk by David Abraham CEO of Channel Four. Not only was the content interesting we had a great crew Valentines day meal!...
Yesterday we had a small burst of snow so I did what every filmmaker would do and took my camera out. I got as far as my porch when I saw all our little garden birds enjoying a bit of lunch and decided to film them. I was only out for an hour but got a great range of birds coming in from our usual robin to the gorgeous gold finch. Having missed out on the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch this year I thought this might make up for it. See what you think of our garden birds in Dorset enjoying the snow. Today I was on shot with Don from Sweet Pictures, Simon Green from Greenrock and Ben Taggart filming interviews at RBS to regain customer trust on the dramatic day of their Libor fine. It was very interesting to be at the heart of what was happening. I assisted the production and filmed second camera with the F800 with Don on the 5D and slider and the view made for some lovely shots from the RBS building.
After a few very cold days out this Winter I've put together a small selection of angles I've been tiring out with my GoPro attached to my bike. I love riding and had a great time seeing what each angle came out like. I still have a few more ideas I can't wait to try out and next time I look forward to finding a an amazing location (rather than my local woods!) for some high speed mountain biking! |
Jessica WilkensMy work experiences and anything television related Archives
August 2013
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